MORE than 50 people from the Extinction Rebellion protest group held a mass die-in event outside Swanage Town Hall on Earth Overshoot Day.

This gathering was attended by over 50 people aged from 10 to 80 and included many of the town’s councillors, who simulated death, while the Town Crier’s bell tolled.

The movement is demanding urgent action from the local authorities on the climate and ecological emergency.

Swanage Town Mayor Mike Bonfield thanked people for coming, saying: "We will work together with Extinction Rebellion Purbeck with a resolution to put to the full council in the near future.”

Extinction Rebellion Purbeck's Dean Storer said: "By declaring a climate emergency the council acknowledges the urgency of our situation and by committing to a net zero carbon target by 2030, the council will show that it is making the health and future of our community its number one priority.

“We already have all the solutions we need to limit our exposure to the breakdown of our climate. Whether we implement them or not is our choice, and I hope we can tell our children that we did everything we could to protect their future.”

The group say this declaration is the first of its kind in the Purbeck area and follows on from BPC Council’s declaration of climate emergency on July 16.